Previous Luminary Award Winners

Clinicians from across Ontario have been recognized with an OMD Luminary Award for their outstanding contributions to advance digital health. Read the 2022 Luminary Award winners stories and get inspired!

2022 Winners

Judy Applebee, Manager of Primary Care, Sanctuary Refugee Health Centre / Kitchener Downtown CHC, Kitchener - Judy has played a crucial role in implementing digital health tools at the Sanctuary Refugee Health Centre, a not-for-profit organization providing care to more than  5100 refugees in the Waterloo region. After the organization’s merger with Kitchener Downtown Community Health Centre, Judy facilitated the transition to a certified EMR. Judy ensured comprehensive training for everyone, improving efficiency an played a crucial role in implementing digital health tools at the Sanctuary Refugee Health Centre, a not-for-profit organization providing the overall experience for clinicians. Despite her busy schedule, she generously shared her knowledge, resolved challenges, and planned future strategies. Judy deserves recognition for her years of service, vision, and hard work.

Dr. David Mathies, Family Physician CCFHT, Dr. Keith Cross, Family Physician AFHT, Lorraine Johnston, Executive Director CCFHT, Cottage Country FHT, Huntsville FHO - This team was instrumental to the successful rollout of Ocean platform products by seizing on a short-term funding opportunity and leveraging it fully to implement across the Muskoka and Area Ontario Health Team (MAOHT) to scale. Within a 6–8-week period, the products were rolled out across multiple primary care practices across the MAOHT geography. For eReferral, over 80% of practicing primary care physicians/NPs were onboarded, and 71 OAB licences were provided to practices to service our community. The team's dedication, problem-solving skills, and collaboration resulted in successful initiatives. As a result, Muskoka Algonquin Healthcare and the SCOPE program adopted the Referral system. Their leadership and understanding of digital initiative benefits have improved community health care services.

Lisa Miller, EMR Systems Administrator, St Michael's Hospital Academic Family Health Team - Lisa oversaw PS Suite EMR at St. Michael's Hospital Academic Family Health Team. She took on a leadership role to implement the online appointment booking (OAB) system, streamlining practice operations. Lisa's efforts resulted in successful funding from the Ontario Health (OH) to support OAB implementation. She also created helpful tools for onboarding providers into the OAD system and shared them with UHN Connect Care for wider use. Thanks to Lisa's dedication, patients now have access to OAB, improving technology-enabled primary health care.

Dr. Hanni Darwish, Lead Physician, North Simcoe FHN - Dr. Darwish is the lead physician for the North Simcoe FHN and has also taken on the unofficial role of IT lead for FHN. With a vast knowledge of the EMR, he generously shared insights with colleagues and conducted training sessions for new physicians joining the FHN, helping them optimize EMR usage and efficiency. Dr. Darwish implemented secure patient messaging and online booking systems for FHN physicians. Notably, he was pivotal in transitioning to a cloud-based EMR in 2018-2019. This transition had implications for allied health practitioners in the associated FHT, such as social workers and dietitians.

Daniel Pepe, Family Physician, London Lambeth FHO - Dr. Pepe committed to working with his certified EMR and integrated digital health tools to provide high quality primary care experience for all 2,100 of his patients. He actively reduced fax-based communication, recognizing its limitations and risks. Dr. Pepe advocates for Prescribe IT and electronic referrals, reaching out to pharmacies and collaborating with local specialists to build a robust system. Thanks to his efforts over 10,000 referrals were sent through Ocean referral network, providing transparency for patients awaiting referrals in Middlesex-London.

Dr. Howard Cohen, Lead Physician, Carling Broadview FHO - Dr. Howard Cohen has demonstrated outstanding use of EMR and advocacy in Long Term Care, retirement living centres, and palliative care. He has strongly advocated digital health technology use in the sector and actively works to improve patient care. Dr. Cohen was the only physician in Ontario to comment on the practicality of the CPSO and coroner's office draft on mandating EMRs/EHRs for home palliative care, advocating for the core needs of the community he serves. He also organized outreach meetings and implemented his own certified EMR at Riverstone Retirement Communities. His dedication to advancing EMR/HER adoption has made a significant impact on the community he serves. Read more on his story in our blog post.